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Monday, August 17, 2015

No Mistakes, Just Lessons

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #EraseStress #CollectiveBias

It's back-to-school already. One more day of organizing new school supplies, trying on new school outfits, getting sports physicals and haircuts before the big day tomorrow. Oh where, oh where did the summer go?! Tonight is back-to-school night to load the lockers and be ready to go tomorrow morning.

We headed to Target where we always do all of our back-to-school shopping. The school supply lists is always far reaching with quantities. I typically re-work the list and go for quality, over quantity. We found Pilot Frixion eraseable pens in the school/office aisle. Perfect- one blue, black and red. From 8/23 – 8/29 20% off:FriXion Clicker pen 3pk Assorted and FriXion Clicker pen 3pk Black

The girls needed a mid-morning activity while I wrapped up budget meetings at work so I could get home to hang out for the rest of the day. I gave them a task: get out your new pens and an index card. Decorate a card with the pens and then write what you feel is your biggest mistake on one side and your biggest lesson that you learned from your mistake on the other side...

Early summer after teaching a yoga class and closing with "Namaste", one student looked up and told me about her husband attending his first yoga class and at the end asked, "Why did she end with 'no mistakes'?" We erupted in laughter. Namaste/No-Mistakes. Close enough. It prompted me to share the story with others...that there are no mistakes in life, just lessons to be learned.

I also asked my daughter to photograph the process. I came home from work this afternoon and viewed the photos and their cards...

I realized, we don't about mistakes very often. We talk more about accidents and what can be done to avoid future accidents, but we rarely discuss mistakes and lessons learned from making mistakes.

As these girls get older, their mistakes may be more profound. They may become more aware of their choices by looking back on previous choices.

They both enjoyed the little project and it was a good friendship building exercise.

Here's their pretty grown up feedback: "There are no do-overs. You can't go back and wipe it all out, but little mistakes can easily be erased to move on with more knowledge and understanding."

What discussions can you start having with your kids as they go back-to-school to get their minds active again? With your purchase of Pilot's FriXion Clicker erasable gel ink pens, you can help Pilot support & fund STOMP Out Bullying programs to 'erase' negative bullying behaviors and 'rewrite' positive, productive solutions.

Pilot will be making a minimum of a $125,000 donation to STOMP Out Bullying, spanning 2015 and 2016. If annual sales goals are exceeded, additional funds will be donated. The additional funds, beyond the minimum $125,000 donation, will be determined based on sales performance & purchase quantities.

1 comment
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This is a great life lesson for older children to learn. My daughter, who will be 6 next month, is a true perfectionist. If she messes anything up, she gets very emotional. We try to talk a lot about how mistakes allow you to learn, but maybe as she gets older, I should teach her how to write down her 'mistakes' and the lesson(s) that she learned to help her work through her emotions. #client